Monkeys, Sloths, and Parties, Oh My!

Day 14 10-7-12 Tuesday Quote of the Day: ¨Did someone seriously send us down this road?¨-David, from Missouri Last night, I think I experienced divine intervention. Jason and I went out to dinner at Flip Flop down the street from our hostel. We had heard good things from the people we had met Sunday night. I was still feeling blah and was really trying to keep my personality agreeable and in check, so as not to be so miserable around Jason. Just as we sat down to eat, our friends, Pamela and David, came in. How great! They came over and sat at a table next to ours and we chatted about our days, and what we had planned coming up. As we were talking, the most horrendous, disgusting smell washed over us, and we all ended up moving across the restaurant to a four person table. We had a very nice meal with them, and I was so grateful for their company. I´m sure Jason was, too. After dinner, we walked around a bit, and they had mentioned that they were planning to go to the Jaguar Rescue Center the next day. I was praying, praying, praying that they might ask us to joint them, because I could not tolerate another bout of public transportation where I don´t really know where I´m going, and I can´t really communicate with the people that do know where I´m going. It´s all a big mess. Well, lo and behold, they did ask us to go with them. They were getting a rental car and were very kind to ask us to spend the day with them! I was elated. I could hardly wait to go to sleep so tomorrow would come. The next morning, they came to pick us up around 9. I had already been awake for hours, so excited. I was eager to get the day started. They picked us up in a compact Peugot. It should be noted that David is a very big dude, and all of us in this tiny car must have looked hysterical. Think, clown car. We made it to the 9:30 tour at the Jaguar Rescue Center. Unfortunately, we had to be in a group of about 20 people which was way too many, and there were all these horrible children running around. Literally, running around, not listening or paying attention to a thing. I don´t think the families spoke very good English, or at least the children didn´t, so it did make for a very trying tour. I love children, but seriously, get your kids under control! This is probably a cultural thing, but my patience was dwindling. The tour guide had to stop several time to ask parents to please keep their children with them, and to stop allowing them to chase and run after the animals. I had some very bad thoughts during this tour. Inside thoughts, that shall remain that way! But, the tour was very educational, and we learned several things about animals like sloths, snakes, frogs, margays, ocelots, hawks, and monkeys! The sanctuary did have three baby sloths, which was fantastic! And, we got to go inside the monkey cage. This was by far my favorite part! The monkeys literally come up to you and sit on you, climb on you, or in my case, try to eat your pants. We couldn´t wear in any jewelry or take in any cameras because they have become quite adept at grabbing things off of people. In the cases of jewelry, they tried to eat it, and in the case of cameras they would throw them on the ground. Naughty monkeys! So Jason stayed out first while I went in and got some great videos. Then, we traded places. Jason witnessed a woman get bit by a monkey because she was trying to grab it. I say, she deserved to get bit. No grabbing monkeys. Monkey hands are very soft, especially the baby monkeys. I was completely enthralled with this place. I could have probably stayed there for an hour or two and been completely entertained! After the tour, you´re free to wander, so I wandered to the baby sloth area and convinced the volunteer to let me pet the baby sloth. I was really hoping to hold one, but petting it was good enough too! They´re pretty soft, actually. After the tour, we struck out for BriBri. I think this place is largely an indigenous population and a very small place. Just getting there was an adventure! The proprietor at the place where David and Pamela were staying had drawn them a map and informed them to go down Margarita Rd because of it´s beautiful scenery. Naturally, we took this road, and it was beautiful allright, but rocky, and we were sometimes a bit unsure of whether the little Peugeot was going to make it up the hills or not! Then, we came to a river crossing. Uhhhhh....seriously? Now what? We´re in the middle of nowhere. We send Jason to investigate the depth. He crosses quite easily and says it´s fine we can make it. David steps on it, and we go splashing through the water. I. Was. Loving. It. We finally reached Bri Bri and stopped to eat some lunch at a local soda there. We poked around their grocery store a bit and met a man from Puerto Viejo, Carlos, who gave us some tips and tricks on how to get to the waterfall that we were headed to. He wasn´t exactly sure, but invited us to dinner later that night and told us about some local fruits and things. He seemed pretty cool. Turns out, he lives with the fire dancers we saw on Sunday night. Small world. After lunch, we got back in the little car and struck out for the waterfall. We did pretty well until we got back into this area that was sparsely populated and we weren´t really sure where the trail was that we were supposed to go on to get to the waterfall. We assumed there would be some hiking involved, but where do we go!? We drove down to the end of the street that came to a fork. Just as we were deciding which direction to go, a woman and child pulled up next to us on the back of a motorcycle. She asked us if we were going to the waterfall which we said, yes, and tried to ask her for directions. She hopped off the motorcycle and said she´d take us there. So, while we´re trying to figure out if we park or not, next thing I know she´s hopping in the backseat with her daughter next to Jason. Okay! Here we go! So, she takes us to a ¨parking lot¨on some people´s property and then leads our hike right down to the waterfall. Then, she stayed there and watched all of our things for us while we went swimming, and lead us back. It wasn´t until we were nearing the end of this trek that we realized this was a money making venture for her. Ahhhhh, suckers! It´s okay though, because without her we definitely woulnd´t have found it. So, thank God! We had a blast swimming around with the fish at the waterfall. We spent a bit of time there and then decided it was time to head back. After we got back into town, David and Pamela dropped us off and we thanked them gratuitously for taking us along. It was the perfect way to spend our last day. So, on Tuesdays in Puerto Viejo the big deal is to go to Tasty Waves. ¨All I need are some tasty waves...a cool buzz...and I´m fine...¨ name that movie! Hence, where the bar gets it´s name. We had told people on Sunday night to meet us there, but were unsure of who exactly would show up. When Jason and I arrived, there was absolutely no one there. No one. There were maybe 10 people in this small, mostly outdoor place. Great, we´re thinking. But, we got some drinks and stuck it out. Soon, our friends Brian and Tom showed up. Things were looking up! No one else really ended up showing up, but it was okay because we were playing pool, having drinks, and having a good time! Jason learned to play a new, Costa Rican version of pool, which hopefully he´ll spread around here in the states. I´ll do my best to, as well. I had originally wanted to be home by 1 because I knew we had to get up early. But, free shots happened at 12:30 which extended our night a little. We really did it up right, Puerto Viejo style. Well, as much of the PV style as I was going to embrace, anyway. It was the besy way to end our time in Puerto Viejo. Absolutely perfect. Trying to get a cab in this town, however, has been quite an ordeal. When we were trying to leave, Jason had asked the bartender about a taxi, and he was told to take the red cab across the street. When we got there, there was no red cab. Then, some stranger came up to us ranting and raving about how he needs at least 3 people to take a cab, and we need a cab, so we must go to the bar so he can prove he has three people for a cab. We don´t know what´s going on, so back to the bar we go. Then, we get ushered out again with the owner of the bar, who is yelling for Victor, and flipping other taxis off and we are competely confused about what´s going on. All the taxis look bootleg to me, but finally, a guy pulls up and says he´ll take us for free, some deal with the bar, I guess. Then, the stranger, who takes the front seat, turns to Jason, and says, ¨I see you when I come to the bar tonight...and I see you...and I think...you are Israeli.¨ This was unexpected. Jason dies laughing, and explains that no, he´s, in fact, Italian. The man, Sammy, as we soon find out, seems skeptical about this, but laughs along anyway. We got home late, late, late, but I wouldn´t have had it any other way for our very last go round. Buenas noches, Judy